The Return of the Sage
by juubiwriter99
Summary: Legend spoke of a young monk with mysterious and powerful eyes who defeated a malevolent beast and ended all wars that plagued the world. He was known as the Sage of Six Paths. However he died and his legacy was lost in the wind. now a young boy will fulfil his legacy and bring peace to the world while also breaking the cycle known as hatred. Rinnegan Naruto, Naruto X Sakura
1. The Samsara Eye

The Return of the Sage.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or it's characters.**

**The Samsara Eye.**

Konohagakure.

The village hidden in the leaves. The oldest and strongest of the hidden villages. Many shinobi legends were born and raised within the village. Such as.

Hashirama Senju: The Shinobi no Kami (God of shinobi).

Madara Uchiha: the Eye of Hatred.

Tobirama Senju: The Water Lord.

Hiruzen Sarutobi: The Professor and the Sandaime Hokage.

Danzo Shimura: The Shinobi no Yami (Darkness of the shinobi).

The Densetsu no Sannin: Jiraiya, Orochimaru and Tsunade Senju.

Dan Kato: the Spirit Man.

Konoha no Shiroi Kiba (Konoha's White Fang) Sakumo Hatake.

The Yondaime Hokage, the Kiiroi Senko (Yellow Flash) Minato Namikaze.

Shisui Uchiha of the Shunshin.

Kakashi Hatake the copy ninja.

The prodigy of the Uchiha clan: Itachi Uchiha.

And now a new legend will join their fold. It's time for the return of the Sage.

* * *

A young blonde haired boy was walking through the village streets. This boy was subjected to glares and sneers along with harmful comments thrown his way, among these comments were 'demon' and 'fox brat' and other hurtful things. This boy is Naruto Uzumaki. He wasn't your typical seven year old boy, far from it.

To many Naruto was a happy child always with a smile on his face, he was rambunctious and loud and quite boisterous. Some called him hyperactive and a bit of a show off, he is also a bit naïve when it comes to certain things but he just seemed like your ordinary boy.

But that wasn't who Naruto Uzumaki truly was. Naruto is lonely and depressed individual. For his entire life he had only know the hardships that boys his age shouldn't experience. The only people that claimed to really know were the Sandaime Hokage and the Ramen Ichiraku chefs. He was a boy who would desperately seek attention which is why he performed pranks so he could get attention but most would look at him as if he didn't exist.

He didn't know why people looked at him like that. It's not like his pranks hurt anyone. They were just mischief on his part. But why did people look at him like that? Not knowing the answer to it was more painful than anything, of course he asked the Sandaime about it but he claimed he didn't know, but Naruto was far smarter than he let on. He knew that the Sandaime knew why everyone hated him or didn't want him around.

He could barely scrape by with living in his current conditions. Whenever he went to stores to buy food the shopkeepers would overcharge the price to unbelievable levels or they would sell him rotted, decayed food that was far from inedible or they would just force him to leave saying that they 'didn't want their store to lose it's reputation'.

He had of course tried to make friends with other children his age. But they would avoid him because their parents told them to. Or they would bully him saying it was the 'right' thing to do even his academy teachers would encourage his peers to humiliate and belittle him.

When it came to shinobi skills Naruto was not the greatest student in the world. He didn't have natural talent and no matter how hard he tried he would result in failure, and of course because of his hyperactive nature with his large amount of energy and small attention span causes him to be easily distracted and not being able to sit still for long periods of time much to the annoyance of his teachers.

Thus because of his below average skill in shinobi arts his peers of labelled him the 'dead-last' or 'dobe'. But he would show them, he would show them all that he will surpass their expectations and by doing that he would have to become Hokage, the leader of his village.

Naruto was a small boy around the average height for someone his age. He had bright blonde spiky hair and ocean coloured blue eyes. But his most prominent feature about him is his three whisker-like marks on each cheek, giving him a vulpine appearance.

As Naruto was walking on the streets something in a garbage bin caught his attention. When he walked over to the discarded item he picked it up and inspected it.

It was a kimono in-fact two kimonos with the same design but different in size.

The kimonos were white in colour and had circular patterns with blue lotus flowers in the circles on the design along with gold branch like patterns. The trim of the kimonos were black and the obi were also gold in colour. Naruto had to admit that they were very beautiful kimonos. So why would someone just throw them away? And Naruto could tell that the clothing wasn't cheap from what the fabric was made of.

Deciding not to look a gift horse in the mouth. Naruto scrutinised the streets behind. He could probably guess that if someone saw him with these kimonos they would probably claim he would steal it. So Naruto folded them up and hid them within his jacket and scurried off back to his apartment.

When he arrived he immediately stripped down into his boxers and tried on the smaller of the kimonos. He noted that the formal wear was a bit big on him but that didn't matter since he would grow into it.

But still he wondered why someone would just throw away such nice clothes? But then he decided that it didn't matter since one mans trash was another mans treasure.

* * *

Hiruzen Sarutobi was sitting in his office attending to all the duties a Hokage must do. Which was paperwork.

God he hated the position he couldn't wait to give someone the special hat and go on a holiday. His thoughts then travelled to a hyperactive blonde boy. He tried to convince the village that Naruto wasn't the demon fox people believe he is. He tried to honour the Yondaime's last wish but the peoples ignorance and lack of faith in their leader clouded their minds.

He tried his best to be supportive of the boy but if he showed him too much attention the council and the his shinobi would claim he was showing favouritism or he was plotting against the village in some wild conspiracy theory. Some people were just idiots.

He sensed a presence behind him. He knew this individual very well.

"You summoned me Hokage-sama?" asked the person. He had black hair with two bangs fallong on the sides of his face and a long ponytail. He was currently wearing ANBU armour and had the signature mask which was the face of weasel.

"Yes I have, I have decided that you will be protecting and watching Naruto Uzumaki from any threat within the village... for a while." spoke the Sandaime.

"From who? Hokage-sama." said asked the ANBU agent although he had a good guess who it was.

"The civilians, the shinobi... Danzo." said Hiruzen cautiously. "I trust that you will do your duty Weasel."

'Weasel' nodded at the old Hokage and disappeared in a flock of crows. Hiruzen sighed, he always had the feeling that Naruto was always in danger it just depended on who wanted to hurt him.

* * *

The Next day Naruto was walking through the village to the academy wearing his new kimono which he was able to shorten to suit his size. He wasn't aware of the shadow that was tailing him like a predator. He was completely oblivious to his surroundings because of this itchy feeling in his eyes.

Of course the boy was subjected to glares and looks of surprise of surprise . The young Uzumaki had grown use to it but it still hurt like like a dagger cutting into flesh. Naruto rubbed his eyes in annoyance, why were they itchy today and no matter how many times he rubbed his eyes the itchy feeling was still there.

Naruto arrived at the academy and he was the first one there other than Shikamaru, who was sleeping soundly his head resting on the table. The Nara opened his eye to see a blonde haired boy wearing an gorgeous kimono. He quickly deduced that the boy was Naruto since he was the only blonde boy in the class.

He muttered a "troublesome" and went back to sleep.

Naruto took a seat at the far back next to the window and he was greatly liking his kimono. It was comfortable and the sleeves were just the correct length and the colours suited each other tremendously. Today he finally brought a textbook. He opened the book at a random page.

But his breath hitched at what he read.

'The Uzumaki clan.'

"Uzumaki?" whispered Naruto which wasn't loud enough for Shikamaru to hear.

Naruto read everything he could on the Uzumaki clan that the textbook could offer.

'This clan of shinobi were one of the strongest the world had to offer because of their expertise in ninja arts and mastery in fūinjutsu... The Uzumaki fought in the era of the warring states where they assisted the Senju clan, who were their... blood relatives and because of this the two clans had extremely strong ties with each other... it is said that the Uzumaki were as strong as the Senju, Uchiha and Hyūga clans, however this has never been proven but since the Senju were their blood relatives it's commonly believed to be true and also the clan had more members than the Uchiha and Hyūga and had extremely strong bodies and chakra coupled with amazing healing abilities and long life span, the Uzumaki were later nicknamed 'the people of longevity' because of their cockroach like life force... their close ties with the Senju were only increased thanks to the marriage of Hashirama Senju, the head of the Senju clan and Mito Uzumaki the daughter of the clan head of the time... after the founding of Konoha, the Senju invited the Uzumaki clan to be part of the village, however the Uzumaki politely refused and created their own hidden village, Uzushiogakure, the two villages had close ties because of the blood shared between the founding clan of the village and their close bonds...' thought Naruto as he kept re-reading the pages. He then travelled to the next page intent on reading it.

'The Uzumaki clan were so powerful and their ties with the Senju kept Konoha and Uzushio's enemies at bay whenever threats of war were to arise... but during the Second Great Shinobi World War a joint force of Kiri and Kumo forces attacked Uzushio believing the village to be a threat... most of Kiri's and Kumo's forces were killed in part to the whirlpools and maelstroms that surrounded the village and at least half of the forces were later lost due to the Uzumaki clans mastery in ninja arts and Fūinjutsu... however Uzushio fell against the onslaught of the villages and the survivors fled to the corners of the world... because of the friendship between Uzushio and Konoha as a sign of respect and fellowship the shinobi of Konoha emblazoned their uniforms and flak jackets with the clans symbol and do so now in memory to the fallen village.' continued Naruto. How he never noticed that the Uzumaki clan were famous and revered is something that will remain a mystery.

Naruto then turned to a page on Mito Uzumaki.

'Mito Uzumaki, daughter of the clan head of the Uzumaki, Tsuyoi Uzumaki and wife of the Senju clan head Hashirama, the First Hokage... not much is known of Mito before the founding of Konoha but being an Uzumaki and growing up during the days of the clan wars it is believed she was an exceptionally powerful kunoichi and was well versed in fūinjutsu... Mito made extensive contributions to Konoha during and after it's founding, she was the founder of many organisations in the village that contributed to trade, she also established trade agreements with other nearby non-shinobi villages as well as a trade agreement with the capital of the Land of Fire. She was also responsible for establishing the Konoha evacuation protocols should the village ever be attacked and created libraries within the village where people could access information, knowledge and education and she also set up the curriculum for the academy after the Nidaime Hokage created it and later the Hokage residence was formed, where the Hokage and their close family would live in but her largest contribution in the village was the creation of Konoha's orphanage because even today children still become orphans.' thought Naruto. Naruto could not help but admire Mito and all she had done (although he was annoyed by the academies curriculum) but he also felt proud for being related to her albeit distantly.

But something struck him. The Uzumaki were close to the Senju and are also blood relatives so... why didn't the Hokage tell him of his clan heritage and when he thought about it, didn't being an Uzumaki make him the heir to the Senju clan aside from Tsunade being the last Senju because he was distantly related to the Senju. But since the two clans were close and Mito lived in the village wouldn't there be some kind of Uzumaki residence in the village and if so why was he living in a shitty apartment.

Deciding to question the old man (The Hokage) later about his clan because only he could answer his questions and maybe he could find out about his parents. Naruto scratched his eyes again for they were still itchy this had been happening all day so why were they still itchy.. When he looked up he saw a bunch of bewildered faces looking at him as if he was a ghost. The other students must have arrived when he was reading the textbook.

'Is... is... Naruto reading a book? and where did he get that kimono?...' thought Iruka in astonishment.

'I've never known the dobe to read a book so... how? And where did he get that kimono? he actually looks hot!' thought Ino.

'troublesome.' thought Shikamaru.

Only two students were looking at Naruto in awe and admiration. Hinata Hyūga and Sakura Haruno. Hinata was looking at Naruto and a large bright blush etched it's way onto her face while she was tapping her index fingers together.

Sakura was looking at Naruto as if he was a complete mystery. She was able to tell that Naruto wasn't 'as' dumb as people thought and she could also tell that all of his problems stemmed from the fact that he had too much chakra and not enough control and the teachers not properly teaching him. She's going to talk to the blonde later because whenever she looked at him he was always lonely and had this pained expression as if he was a wounded animal.

After everyone got over their shock of Naruto actually reading a book they then went back to their lesson which was on chakra affinities. And Naruto was rubbing his eyes all the way through it.

* * *

Naruto was on his way to the Hokage tower to speak with the Hokage who he had dubbed 'jiji'. Unfortuantely Naruto's itchy eye problem was still there except it was much worse where they stung a little but he put that at the back of his mind. He needed to know more of the Uzumaki clan and the Hokage was the only one who might know.

He then felt something impact against his forehead which caused him to drop to his knees and clutch his head in pain. When he looked around he found the item that hit his head. It was a rock and there was some blood on it. He looked down at his head to find blood dripping from his forehead like a leaky tap.

He got back onto his feet and restarted his trek back to the tower his hair overshadowing his eyes which were still stinging.

When he arrived at the tower, he walked into the Hokage's office to find the aged shinobi sitting behind his desk tending to his paperwork.

It took Hiruzen a few moments to realise that the blonde ball of energy that would visit him regularly was standing in front of his desk like a statue.

The first thing Hiruzen saw was a lovely kimono with blue lotus' and gold waves patterned on the fabric with log sleeves and a black trim. He craned his head some more to see a mop of golden blonde hair which was slightly red.

And there was Naruto standing in front of him with a sad frown on his face. Then Hiruzen saw the blood which had yet to be cleaned and the Hokage bolted up from his chair like a bullet which was remarkable for someone his age.

"Naruto... come, sit and lets get that wound cleaned up." said the Sandaime with a kind smile. He ushered Naruto into his chair. He cleaned up the wound with some tissues and later used disinfectant and unsurprising to the Kage the wound was already starting heal.

After the wound was tended Sarutobi asked what Naruto came here for.

"So Naruto was is it you need?" said Hiruzen with the same kind smile.

"Am I really of the Uzumaki clan?" questioned Naruto. Hiruzen widened his eyes a little in surprise but the then remembered that the Uzumaki clan were practically famous throughout the world they even had a small compound in the village along with a forbidden temple.

"Yes Naruto you are among the last of the Uzumaki clan in fact I believe you are the last of the clan." said Hiruzen as he puffed on his pipe.

"But the Uzumaki are near royalty here in the village! So why did you hide it from me?!" queried/shouted Naruto. Hiruzen sighed the blonde wasn't making it easy, at this rate he wold have to tell the blonde about his parents.

Ultimately deciding to answer the blondes question Hiruzen was aware that the human curiosity could be easily quelled.

"Naruto what I will say must not be repeated outside this office am I clear." said the Sandaime cautiously. Naruto nodded his head at the old man and rubbed his stinging eyes.

"I hid your clan heritage so to protect you, I will not reveal your names but your parents were strong shinobi and they made many enemies, they died during the kyuubi attack and if their enemies were to find out you were their son, the enemies they made would have done anything to kill you." explained Sarutobi. Naruto nodded at the man who was the closest thing to a grandfather he had.

"Can I at least know about one of my parents?" asked Naruto. Hiruzen could see the sadness and the loneliness in Naruto's ocean blue eyes. Hiruzen sighed once again.

"You mother's name was Kushina Uzumaki... and she was the most stubborn, fiery, impulsive, tomboyish and fearless woman I have ever known... but she was also level-headed and cheerful as well as kind but had quite the temper that could rival my former student's, Tsunade." said Sarutobi fondly.

"Did my... mother love me?" deadpanned Naruto. Sarutobi looked up to see Naruto looking at the ground.

"To her you were the most precious thing in the world and she loved you unconditionally." answered the Sandaime. He could see some tears prickling at the corners. Then Naruto lifted his face and a massive foxy grin was plastered on his features like a neon sign.

"If she loved me then thats all I could ask for!" shouted Naruto happily and Sarutobi was able to see that the smile Naruto wore was the real thing and not a fake he would usually receive. "But about my clan." said Naruto as his smile faded. The sandaime sighed since Naruto was the heir to the fallen Uzumaki clan he would gain all the clans assets, jutsu, money and 'that' temple truly belonged to him. Even though Tsunade was part Uzumaki she wasn't actually part of the clan so she couldn't inherit all the assets that the Uzumaki clan had.

"If you wish to take full control of the clan and it assets... than you can Naruto." said the Sandaime. Naruto happily nodded his head at this.

"Very well, tomorrow I will inform the council that a new clan has joined up with Konoha since the Uzumaki are not technically a Konoha clan... Weasel!" shouted Sarutobi. 'Weasel' appeared behind the Hokage via a shunshin. "Please help Naruto in moving out of his apartment and into the the Uzumaki mansion." commanded the old Kage. 'Weasel' nodded in affiramtion.

"Meet me at your apartment, Naruto-kun." said 'Weasel'hat Naruto ran out of the office leaving Hiruzen alone with his paperwork.

* * *

Naruto was walking to his apartment, he finally, at last knew one of his parents it was even better knowing that his mother loved him and when he thought about it, how the sandaime described her personality, it was similar to his.

He was currently ignoring everything around him he was just relishing in the fact that somebody loved him. Everything to him was a blue

The blonde was currently unaware of the darkening sky, black clouds were sweeping over the blue sky like a plague while flashes of red were dotting amongst the black. The thunder resounded like falling hammers impacting the earth and shaking the foundations of the land.

Naruto could then feel this malevolent force seemed to wash over him. He rubbed his eyes again but instead of stinging they were burning like fire. The pain coming from his eye's were not the only problem.

Where he looked he could see angry villagers all around him. He continued rubbing his eyes and through his half lidded orbs he was able to discern some blunt weapons among the crowd.

"This is the day you die demon!" yelled one of the villagers.

"I will avenge my brother!" said another villager.

"We will become hero's!" said another. Naruto figuring out what their intent was did the only logical thing a person could do in his position... run. So he ran because he was an academy student he was more agile and faster than the villagers but only a little.

Out of the corners of his eyes was he abel to identify that there were no children on the streets. This was planned, the adults likely didn't want their children to see such horrors befall the 'demon'.

* * *

'Weasel' was patiently waiting at Naruto's apartment. He was currently thinking about the blonde ball of energy and if he should help the kid some more. 'Weasel' knew of Naruto's plight and was also aware of his dream to be Hokage. Unlike the villagers 'Weasel' knew the difference between a scroll and a kunai.

He was thinking over if he should train Naruto, the Hokage ordered him to protect the blonde, he didn't say anything about training him.

Suddenly he heard yells and cries coming from a street not to far away. His shinobi senses were yelling at him that something was terribly wrong.

'Weasel' shunshinned away from Naruto's apartment to the disturbance on the streets.

* * *

Sakura Haruno was walking around the village enjoying the peace and quiet that came with it.

Her thoughts then travelled to the blonde enigma that was Naruto Uzumaki.

When around people Sakura could tell that Naruto was always forcing a fake smile. But when he was alone she would glance at him and she could see, practically feel all the pain and loneliness in his being. She didn't know why people hated him, they just did.

Ino warned her to stay away from him. But the human curiosity it not easily quenched, a fact many people were aware of.

Then she started to hear yelling coming from a street near her. She also noticed that she was the only child on the streets and also where were the villagers?

She quickly began to run to where the commotion was.

* * *

He was running at break neck speeds, why did this have to happen to him. How did this happen to him. He didn't hurt anyone so why was he punished for something that he didn't know about.

"Get back here you demon!" yelled one of the villagers that was chasing after Naruto.

"We will avenge the Yondaime!" yelled another. He felt tears pooling at his eyes. Why did they call him that why did they glare at him. Why is it that he has to suffer.

All his life he had known hatred and depression, he had never known the love of a parent, he never had any friendship. The amount of people that truly smiled at him could be counted on his hand.

Living his life is almost unbearable. How he could take all their anger and sorrow and yet make it seem worthless was what kept him going, his dream he had to fulfil. To be Hokage, thats his dream.

He only wants to be accepted. To be viewed as a person. To be viewed as someone vital to the village.

But would he ever accomplish that.

Naruto kept running until he was panting, he saw an ally in between two stores that could probably lead to his escape. He turned into the alley and beheld a dead end.

He was trapped, sandwiched between a wall and a mob of angry villagers. He couldn't run anymore, he had no place to hide.

He then began to think about what people said. About how ones life flashes before their eyes. He knew that he wouldn't come out of this alive. But he had achieved so little, he had so much to look forward to. He just wanted to be loved to even be looked at with a smile.

He then started to cry, he turned to face the mob who were standing at the entrance of the alley all with looks of anger carved into their visages. He continued to cry all the while his eyes were burning in his sockets.

This was the end. All he did was meaningless and now he was going to die.

He dropped down on the ground and at that moment the rain started to fall, muddying the ground and soaking everyone on the street.

The mob drew closer unaffected by the rain and the boys tears.

'I just wanted, to have what people called...' thought Naruto to himself as he cried silently. The mob drew closer and closer readying whatever weapons they were carrying. '… a family.'

He looked up to see the mob charging at him, the burning in his eyes was becoming too much and he screamed while clutching his eyes.

"NOO! PLEASE DON'T HURT ME! PLEASE!" shrieked Naruto. Fear overcoming him. The swarm of furious villagers were now right on top of him ready to end his life and let the shinigami take him to hell.

But to Naruto time seemed to slow down. His pupils dilated and black rings sprung from the dot and his eye colour now took on a metallic purple colour.

"SHINRA TENSEI!" yelled Naruto and at that moment an invisible force surged from his body towards the crowd of people. Everyone caught in it was blown off their feet and the sides of the alley was torn as if thousands of blades cut right into the walls and at least half the of the shops were torn asunder as if an earthquake happened. The villagers were thrown about like rag-dolls under the force of the technique and a large layer of dust was created from the effect clouding everyone's view.

When the dust cleared you could see what happened. Villagers were lying on the ground you couldn't tell if they were unconscious or deceased. There were large marks upon the ground as if someone carved the ground like a sculptor.

The young seven year old boy was peering at the devastation that was wrought. Just how did that happen. The burning in his eyes was now gone so that was good. But did he do all the damage he was viewing. Just how did it happen.

The kyuubi was stirring in it's cage. It opened one of it's eyes slowly. The red slitted orb was scanning it's surroundings. He could feel this strange power coming from his vessel, it was foreign yet familiar at the same time. He couldn't place it's claw on it. He closed it's eyes and reigned in it's curiosity.

"**What is this power?**" said the Kyuubi outloud.

'Weasel' had just arrived at the scene. And all he could see was carnage, he had hoped the kyuubi's seal wasn't broken. He was a fool to leave Naruto alone. He should have been there the villagers wouldn't have attacked him if his presence was known.

He then traced the point of where the desolation happened and he found. A blonde haired boy with whisker marks and a kimono. He had been crying and his eyes were red and puffy. But the thing that shocked the ANBU the most was the purple, ripple patterned eyes where the ocean blue were supposed to be.

And he knew that what he was observing was none other than the fable dōjutsu of the god of shinobi.

"The Rinnegan." breathed 'Weasel'. He had believed that that certain eye was nothing more than a legendm, a myth. The Samsara eye was real and Naruto was proof of it.

'Weasel' ran up to the academy student. To many Naruto looked dead but 'Weasel' knew better.

"Naruto, Naruto are you ok?" questioned 'Weasel'. Naruto looked at the ANBU agent before hugging him and balling his eyes out again. It took a few moments for 'Weasel's' mind to register what had happened. The Blonde battery known as Naruto Uzumaki the 'happiest' boy in the world was currently bursting into tears and shaking like a leaf.

'Weasel' embraced Naruto in a hug in an attempt to comfort him. And it seemed to have worked because Naruto's muscles loosened and he became less tense and he was now reduced to sobs instead of crying.

"Lets go and get you settled in your new home, Naruto-kun." said 'Weasel' as he tried to comfort the boy. Suddenly a team of ANBU appeared and surveyed the area. 'Weasel' explained everything but left out the part of Naruto's Rinnegan, which was now deactivated and later both the elite agent and the fox host left.

But unknown to the two parties a mop of pink hair with emerald eyes was watching them. She didn't show up until after Naruto unknowingly attacked the villagers. The questions running through her mind were.

'What happened to Naruto? Did he do all this? Does he have a dōjutsu?' were only some of the questions.

After they had gotten a few things of value from Naruto's apartment 'Weasel' and the fox were now standing before the Uzumaki mansion which was owned and built by Mito Uzumaki and later Kushina Uzumaki.

"This is where we say goodbye for now, Naruto-kun." said 'Weasel. But Naruto spoke up wanting to know something.

"Before you go... can you tell me your name?" said Naruto. 'Weasel' was a little surprised by this request but complied nonetheless but not before checking his surroundings first.

"My name is..." said 'Weasel' as he was taking off his mask. "Itachi Uchiha."

"Cool name." commented Naruto and they both bid farewell bit not before Itachi promised himself to speak with the Hokage about being the permanent protector of Naruto.

And so the Sage has Returned.


	2. Ripples

The Return of the Sage.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or it's characters.**

**Ripples**

In the village hidden in the leaves. All was peaceful and serene. Birds were happily chirping in the sky, the air was fresh with the scent of Spring while an idiot wearing a hideous green jumpsuit was yelling about the Springtime of Youth.

Sakura Haruno was currently staring out her window looking across the buildings that dotted the village. Her mind was a roller-coaster, so many questions filled the crevices of her mind. What she had witnessed the week before was clawing her thoughts and the more she thought about it the more confused she became.

The blonde boy. Naruto Uzumaki. That's what was occupying her mind. Everything she knew about the ball of energy was being contested with what she saw, granted she didn't see everything but the aftermath she saw all too well. From what she knew about Naruto was that, he was a hyper-active boy as well as a trouble maker and attention seeker who would pull harmless and stupid pranks around the village, he wasn't the greatest student in the academy and nor was he the brightest, he wasn't dumb he just didn't understand some things.

But yet despite all that he seemed like a kind and gentle soul coupled with his unique why didn't he have any friends? For someone like Naruto it should be easy... but apparently not. Whenever she looked at him when lunch was happening at the academy she would see him alone on a swing as if wanting to be like everyone else. Most of the students belittled him for not being as talented as them and the teachers refused to help him for some reason.

But one thing he was complimented on was not having any parents. At first Sakura thought he was lucky to not have any parents to punish him or discipline him. But she would see a flash of hurt streak across his face whenever someone mentioned his parents. She was aware that Naruto was an orphan but why did he live alone? After the kyuubi attack there was a whole new string of orphans because of their parents giving their lives to protect the village. So why was he living alone? Or better yet why was he not living in the orphanage?

Naruto Uzumaki was an enigma. He was just mysterious. Why did people glare at him? Why did they whisper horrible things about him? And where did the ripple pattern in his eyes come from?

Her thoughts travelled to his eyes for a brief moment Sakura thought she saw was a strange dōjutsu like the sharingan and the byakugan. It had multiple rings surrounding the pupil as if looking at a ripple and the metallic purple was intimidating and beautiful. And yet there was this strange ability.

How did Naruto repel the villagers like that? It's as if he controlled gravity. And the ANBU with the weasel mask seemed like he was friendly with Naruto. But another thing, why was Naruto guarded by ANBU agents? All this made no sense to the pink haired girl. She had to learn more about Naruto Uzumaki and the rippled eyes.

She decided that she would start at the library, she had to research everything about the blonde, his name, his past, his eyes... everything she just had to know, there was thing feeling inside her that could not be quenched easily. She couldn't tell Ino, knowing the gossip queen she would tell everyone and blow the whole thing out of proportion. The mystery of Naruto Uzumaki were like ripples even the slightest touch set off a reaction and those questions that surrounded him only grew in size.

* * *

Naruto was presently exploring his new mansion and he had to say. It was far better than the shitty apartment he used to live in. It wasn't as big as the Uchiha and Hyūga compunds but it was big enough to fit a large family. The mansion had three large traditional japanese buildings with an outer gate with the signature Uzumaki swirl on the gate. The building had all the necessities for living in. large bathrooms, kitchens, dining rooms it even had a large 56 inch T.V for entertainment purposes.

And a private training ground with silencing seals and protection seals. Along with a library filled with jutsu of all types, Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, Genjutsu, Fūinjutsu and much more.

He also had a small koi pond with a bridge over it there were numerous sakura trees with pink blossoms that decorated the land scape and the petals speckled the ground like a blanket over a bed. Mito Uzumaki had taste, thats for sure.

He had discovered that he could activate the Rinnegan at will just by channeling chakra into his eyes. And he had to admit they were cool, better looking than the byakugan but not as fear inspiring as the sharingan. And he couldn't wait to show up all those arrogant bastards with their special eyes since he now had one.

Though he didn't know what the Rinnegan did? He had researched all he could on the eyes but the only bit of information he was able to discover was from an old legend about this guy call the 'Sage of Six Paths' and that Naruto and his dōjutsu could allow him to wield all five basic nature transformations which was pretty cool. But he had a feeling that there was more to the Rinnegan than he believed he just needed a way to discover more of it's abilities.

Maybe he should ask Itachi about what he knew of the Rinnegan.

Since Naruto could use all five nature transformations he could just choose a nature and do it's jutsu how hard could it be. He also researched that the most amount of nature affinities one could have were four which was extremely rare even for someone with and without a bloodline.

He wanted to know more, no he needed to know more.

* * *

Hiruzen Sarutobi was attending to the bane of his existence paperwork. Everyday he would have to do paperwork, why did his sensei have to make him Hokage he could have chosen any unfortunate bastard but noooo, it had to be him.

Hiruzen then thought about what had happened a week ago regarding Naruto and the villagers attack on him. He was utterly flabbergasted when he saw the destruction when his teams of ANBU contacted him about it, luckily all the villagers that were caught in the blast were knocked out and the worst they suffered were broken bones. And apparently Naruto had been the one to cause it. Itachi Uchiha one of his best agents met up with the Kage later to discuss about Naruto and his new eyes. Hiruzen almost didn't believe it, the legendary eye, the most powerful dōjutsu, the Rinnegan, was real and it also manifested in Naruto, the kyūbi jinchūriki.

Hiruzen knew that this revelation would most likely stir up trouble, among the villagers, the council and the Uchiha and Hyūga clans. The villagers would claim that it would be the fox's influence on Naruto and would attack him, the council more so the shinobi council would be jumping for joy over a new dōjutsu, the most powerful among the eye kekki genkai's if not the most powerful kekki genkai. They would probably force Naruto into the C.R.A (Clan Restoration Act) where the blonde would have to marry multiple women and have lots of babies with Rinnegan's, though Sarutobi doubted it would work since Naruto was not a shallow person. And the problems with the Uchiha and Hyūga clans would be the most disastrous. The two clans might send assassins to kill Naruto since the Rinnegan might be passed down to his children it could break the influence that the clans have garnered over the years. Not only that since Naruto is an Uzumaki who are distant blood relatives to the Senju made Naruto the heir to the Senju clan since Tsunade has no heirs and she refused to return to the village, but yet there was 'that' incident. So by law Naruto would inherit everything the Senju had, he was even allowed to change his name to Senju if he wanted to, and he also there was 'that' detail.

Hiruzen sighed Naruto was always causing some mayhem, but maybe Naruto could become Hokage, the Rinnegan would help him but he also has the resolve and the determination to do it like his father. And Hokage is his dream and Naruto was as stubborn as a rock, like his mother and determined like a wolf, something he inherited from his father.

But what was strange that Itachi asked the aged kage to become the permanent guardian to Naruto. Hiruzen took some comfort from knowing that Naruto would be safe under Itachi's care. He would also have to inform the council that a new clan would be joining the leaf village. Or a new one would be reborn because of 'that' detail.

Hiruzen knew little to nothing about the Rinnegan. He didn't believe in it at the time and thought it was a mere legend that old wives used to tell. The Samsara eye of the god of shinobi. The Sage of the Six Paths. The Sage was shrouded in mystery, nothing about the man was known other than his power was greater than the First Hokage's Hashirama Senju and that he possessed the Rinnegan.

Hiruzen felt a migraine incoming, he felt guilty, why because of Naruto's full heritage. Both his father and mother. He had to inform Naruto of his true heritage and his talk with with the blonde yesterday left him filled with guilt. He lied and yet he was telling the truth at the same time.

He signed off on a document and left his office to attend the council meeting he had called for. He was debating whether not to inform the council of Naruto's Rinnegan, of course the civilians would react in the most negative way and the worst possible outcome from informing the shinobi council would be that they believed he was a lunatic. But if they believed him Hiashi and Fugaku would worst case, be pissed.

He decided that since the Sage of Six Paths invented the ninshu (shinobi sect) which would later become ninjutsu and the shinobi ways that his eyes, Naruto's eyes were a shinobi matter.

He soon had the familiar sights of the council room door, too many times he had been called to the room to discuss about something Naruto did or the civilians fears of the beast he holds. He opened to the double doors and beheld the council room which was a round room with an arched table with a number of seats and the clan symbols on the chairs distinguishing the clans, Hiruzen saw all the civilian representatives and the village elders along with the clan heads. From left to right were Shibi Aburame, Tsume Inuzuka, Hiashi Hyūga, Asuma Sarutobi was sitting in the Sarutobi seat acting as the clan head since his father was the Hokage, Shikaku Nara, Chōza Akimichi, Danzō Shimura head of the Shimura clan, Inoichi Yamanaka, Fugaku Uchiha and the missing Senju seat which was reserved for Tsunade and the two other elders Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado.

And the ANBU commander was sitting next to the Hokage seat which was in the middle of the arched table and the kage's chair had the kanji for Fire on it.

Hiruzen took his seat in his rightful chair and coughed into his hand gaining everyone's attention.

"Now that I have your attention something has happened in the village which will give our military strength a boost in power." said Sarutobi. Many people in the room raised their eyebrows at the old kage, the only ones who didn't show any emotion was Hiashi Hyūga, Fugaku Uchiha and Danzō Shimura.

"Please tell me Hiruzen you haven't blundered in your duties as Hokage... again." spoke Danzō in a discreetly hidden insult on leading the village. But many other shinobi councillors scowled at Danzō, many gave him a wide berth, since he was probably still sour over not becoming the Sandaime Hokage or the Yondaime Hokage or the Godaime Hokage since Sarutobi refused to retire.

"No Danzō nothing like that." said Hiruzen. "I have received news that either one of our own clans can be revived or an new clan will be joining us."

Many in the council room raised their eyebrows at the kage only Danzō just kept his visage expressionless.

"Please explain to us Hokage-sama about how a new clan could be built? while one of our own clans could be renewed?" asked Inoichi Yamanaka. Many of the other Councillors shared his disbelief and confusion.

"Well one certain person has discovered their roots and they wish to rebuild their clan here in Konoha while also this person happens to be one of the last living members of one of our founding clans." explained the Hokage wisely.

"And who is this certain individual... Hiruzen." questioned Danzō as he was curious.

Hiruzen sighed again. "His name is Naruto... Naruto Uzumaki." spoke Hiruzen. And at that moment everyone in the room was flabbergasted. The demon brat as the civilians called him was a clan heir. And a powerful clan to boot.

The civilians wanted to say something but wisely zipped their mouths shut because they were aware that Sarutobi was not easily tricked and the Uzumaki clan were revered within the village, they had hoped to keep Naruto's right as a clan heir and future head a secret believing that the fox shouldn't get that much power.

But now they couldn't do anything about it, attacking a clan heir is punishable for treason. But since the boy didn't have a bloodline (well not a bloodline they were aware of). They wouldn't force him into the C.R.A (Clan Restoration Act) an act invented by the Second Hokage regarding Konoha and it's bloodlines.

Sarutobi inwardly smirked, he finally put the civilians in their place by using the villages laws, their own laws against them. However Naruto might be put into the C.R.A if he blurts out that he has the Rinnegan to everyone in the village.

"But Hokage-sama, how can Naruto rebuild one of our own clans when he is already a Uzumaki?" asked Tsume Inuzuka. This was all too confusing for her she just preferred if the civilians were not involved in matters that regarded shinobi such as Jinchūriki, which were shinobi business.

"Well unfortunately Naruto-kun has yet to discover his full heritage and I will inform him of that later to him and the council." said Sarutobi ending the conversation. The clan heads nodded at this but you couldn't see the small narrowing of Fugaku Uchiha's eyes. He could tell that there was something the Hokage was hiding, but he wouldn;t look into it at the moment.

"Now that this is all done this I call this council meeting is adjourned." proclaimed Sarutobi.

All the councillor's shuffled out of the room while Danzō was scheming. He was hoping to influence Naruto and use his Uzumaki ties to the village to make some 'changes'.

Sarutobi slumped in his seat still in the council room, all this nonsense was giving him a migraine. If Danzō discovered that Naruto has the Rinnegan the old war-hawk would stop at nothing to get Naruto under his control with the power of a Bijū and the fabled Rinnegan Naruto could someday be invincible. He could become shinobi who could rival his father, or even better a shinobi who could rival Hashirama Senju.

* * *

Itachi now under the guise of 'Weasel' was currently standing outside the Uzumaki mansion. Since Naruto knew who he was there would be little need to wear his mask while on the grounds of the mansion.

Itachi knew that doors were too overrated for shinobi so he did the next best thing... jumped over the wall. When he landed he noticed that the fround was dotted with sakura petals. And that the petals were floating in the wind giving the mansion a serene and peaceful atmosphere.

Itahic traversed the mansion looking for a blonde blur. And he found the hyperactive blonde sitting under a sakura tree with a book in his hands which the title was. 'The Legend of the Six Paths' it didn't take a genius to figure out that Naruto was researching the Rinnegan but what surprised Itachi was that Naruto was sleeping silently under the tree his head resting against the smooth bark. Itachi trudged over to his ward and inspected him hoping that he wasn't under a genjutsu.

But he found that Naruto really was asleep and the Uzumaki heir had the most content smile adorning his lips. Which filled Itachi with happiness knowing that Naruto considered his new home a haven.

The Uchiha heir shook Naruto's shoulder in the hopes of waking him up.

Naruto jolted a little but his surprise was quenched when he discovered that it was Itachi that awoke him. Over the week since the attack in the form of the civilians Naruto had been talking with Itachi and he discovered that the Uchiha heir was quite friendly.

Itachi even talked about his younger brother, Naruto's self proclaimed rival Sasuke Uchiha. The Uzumaki didn't have anything against Sasuke personally, he was just jealous that he was better at being a shinobi than he was.

But Itachi told him that natural talent meant nothing in the shinobi world. And that true strength came from aspiring to be greater than you were now. And Naruto took that lesson to heart and began to train himself in hoping to be strong like the Hokage's.

"Hey Itachi whats up." greeted Naruto casually. Itachi smiled and patted Naruto's head. There were only a few people who could make Itachi genuinely smile and that was his mother, Sasuke and Naruto himself. Itachi knew of Naruto's parentage since being in ANBU gave him some access to the information and the fact that Kushina Uzumaki was a close friend of his own mother.

"Not much Naruto-kun." replied Itachi. "I see you have been reading on anything related to the Rinnegan."

"Yeah but I couldn't fund much other than what I already knew... you wouldn't happen to know anything about the Rinnegan would you?" queried Naruto. But Itachi shook his head dejectedly since what he knew about the Rinnegan was in fact very little. He just knew that it was the most powerful of the eye kekki genkai's and that it would allow Nartuo to utilise all forms of basic nature transformations.

Naruto sighed in disappointment but he felt something softly clasp his shoulder in a tender way. When he looked up he saw Itachi smiling at him.

"How about... I teach you how to train you chakra natures instead Naruto-kun." suggested Itachi. Which Naruto adopted a large grin and jumped repeatedly in the air much to Itachi's amusement.

Both persons went to the mansions private training ground. And both stood before eachother face to face.

"Now Naruto-kun as you know the Rinnegan will allow you to utilise all basic forms of chakra nature so there's no point in finding your affinity so instead we will train you natures to become increasingly more powerful so we are going to start with the chakra nature I'm most familiar with Fire." spoke Itachi to which Naruto nodded.

Itachi took hold of a leaf that was milling about in the air and held it in-between his fingers.

"Now Naruto-kun to train your Fire nature just imagine your chakra as a ball and compress that ball and release it all at once and try to burn the leaf." instructed Itachi as he flicked the leaf out of his hand which landed in Nartuo's palm. So Naruto got started on his Fire training by holding the leaf sandwiched between his hands with his rRnnegan unactivated which led Itachi to believe that you didn't need to be activated to sue the natures.

Itachi meanwhile was meditating under a tree.

It was an hour later when Naruto felt something between his hands when he looked at the leaf he noticed that one of the edges was singed a little to which for Naruto that was progress. Itachi also detected it and smiled, Naruto was learning at a faster rat ethan Itachi when he fist tried that exercise. In fact it took Itachi days just to singe the leaf and Naruto had already started making progress

After Naruto had finished with his Fire training Itachi would teach Water next since Itachi had an affinity to water. He was pleased that he was ordered the position of Naruto's guardian since this way Naruto wouldn't be alone and he could also teach Naruto at the same time since Itachi knew that Naruto would be hunted, by those who would want the kyūbi or because he was the Yondaime's son to which no one had figured out that the two were related.

A few hours later Naruto had taken the singed leaf to a slightly burnt leaf which was great progress in Itachi's eyes and he could tell that even without the Rinnegan Naruto had enormous potential he just needed to break the damn that was holding it back.

* * *

Night had fallen over Konoha and Itachi was running across the rooftops to reach his clans compound. He was excited to see Sasuke even though he would never show it. He shunshinned in-front of his house and was met with the reception of Shisui Uchiha one of the clans most talented members someone who could rival or defeat Itachi.

Itachi looked up to Shisui as a brother and the two were very close, Shisui knew Itachi inside and out and he knew what he was thinking without Itachi even revealing facial features.

"Hey Itachi." greeted Shisui. Itachi didn't look at him but to Shisui that meant he was paying attention.

"Hello Shisui, how was the mission?" asked Itachi still with his emotionless visage.

"It was good assassinated some threats to the village, mainly vengeful Kumo and Iwa shinobi who couldn't get over the fact that we won the last war thanks to the Yondaime, the commander gave me a recommendation of promotion to the Hokage about how the success of the mission went... what have you been up to?" asked Shisui.

"I have been protecting a very important person who possess great gifts and equally great potential in shinobi arts." explained Itachi, he didn't want to reveal the fact that Naruto had the Rinnegan even though he trusted Shisui with his life he also knew that Shisui was extremely devoted to his clan and he could tell Itachi's father Fugaku but he also doubted that since was also devoted to the village and if he had the information someone like Danzō could get wind of it or would relieve the information from Shisui.

"Cool, also you should know that you father has been looking for you." said Shisui who shunshinned away leaving Itachi alone and at the door of his home.

Itachi slid the door to his home and he was met with his father's disapproving stare.

"Hello... father." said Itachi as he closed the door behind him.

"Where have you been?" said Fugaku sternly.

"My responsibilities as an ANBU agent have kept me occupied." answered Itachi bluntly. Fugaku gritted his teeth he could never get through to Itachi who didn't want anything to do with his clan aside from his brother and mother. Fugaku believed it was Itachi's duty to further the clan by bringing back jutsu and other weapons from his missions in the ANBU but he only did what was best for the village, the village that had been ostracising his clan for seven years.

Itachi brushed past his father and onto his room, he couldn't deal with the man at the time not since he had such a good day with Naruto. He was going to try and hopefully teach Naruto how to awaken his Rinnegan's abilities such as that gravity attack last week. Itachi could tell that it was extremely powerful and useful in many situations.

And he was also going to urge Naruto to become friends with Sasuke since his brotehr was showing signs of the Uchiha's repugnant arrogance.

But Itachi also had to be careful with Naruto and Sasuke since both could somehow develop their clans curse of hatred because Itachi suspected that the Rinnegan was connected to the sharingan.

Itachi deciding not to ponder it anymore entered his room and succumbed to blissful sleep.

* * *

The next day we find Itachi and Naruto and the Uzumaki mansion getting ready for the academy. Itachi ahd left his clans compound early so to meet Naruto and tell him a few things that Itachi believed were vital.

"Books?" questioned Itachi while watching over Naruto within the boys room who was packing his stuff for the academy while wearing his elaborate kimono.

"Check!" answered Naruto who hastily stuffed his books into his bag.

"Lunch?"

"Check!"

"Practice kunai and shuriken?"

"Check!"

"Scrolls on your clans jutsu?"

"Check!"

"Scrolls and information on the Rinnegan?"

"Check?"

"Brushed your teeth?"

"Uh huh no." said Naruto as he guiltily scratched his head a habit when he was flustered.

Itachi craned his head at the bathroom where Naruto's toothbrush was. And the blonde swiftly ran in and cleaned his teeth.

After Naruto brushed his teeth Itachi needed to tell him something.

"Naruto-kun." spoke Itachi gaining Naruto's attention.

"You must not show your Rinnegan to your peers." commanded Itachi. Naruto widened his eyes in shock as if someone stole his ramen.

"Why not?!" yelled/inquired Naruto.

"Because it could cause an insurmountable amount of trouble for you and everyone around you." responded Itachi. He had to make sure Naruto understood since the Uzumaki was seven years old and wasn't aware of the fox in his gut it of course would cause him to be ignorant of certain things.

"Come one Itachi-Nii-san I want to show everyone my cool eyes and they won't believe I'm the deadlast anymore." whined Naruto. Itachi raised his eyebrow at the Nii-san part. But he had to press he needed to make his point clear.

"Naruto-kun... I will make this very clear to you... show the Rinnegan to people and you'll be in trouble." said Itachi as he gave Naruto a small glare which unnerved Naruto himself. Finally Naruto submitted which pleased Itachi who gave a small smile at the blonde.

Afterwards Naruto walked to the academy of course he was subjected to glares and sneers but something surprised him there was mysterious whispering going around the village using his hearing Naruto was able to make out a few words.

"Did you hear, that boy is the heir to the Uzumaki."

"I can't believe the demon is heir to such a prestigious clan."

"What was the Hokage thinking allowing that 'thing' to sully such an honourable clan."

"That brat shouldn't be born to such noble people."

Naruto hearing their words could feel this melancholic emotion washed over him like a wave from the ocean. Even now knowing that Naruto belonged to a clan, a family he was still being discriminated even now. Maybe this was what Itachi meant?

Naruto now had the academy within his sights and he could see all the children playing amongst each other he only wished that he could be like them but for some reason parents just shooed him away.

If only he could use that same ability he did a week ago and even now he was trying to figure it out. He heard more whispers from among the parents that were with their children mainly civilian parents and a few shinobi who weren't part of the clans.

"That trash is a clan heir, the Hokage should have gotten rid of him the moment he was born."

"Filth, walking around tarnishing the name of the Uzumaki can't he see that nobody wants him around why can't he just drop dead."

Naruto had to hold back the tears that were beginning to swell, he had a good idea to just go back to his mansion or he could yell at the villagers but that would probably make things worse. And all the while Itachi was watching and listening to what the villagers were saying, had they little faith in the Yondaime for caging the beast and the hurtful things say were saying was stirring something within the Uchiha and he believed it was rage but he had to reign in his temper, the Hokage wouldn't approve that one of his ANBU attacked his villagers in broad daylight.

As Naruto walked into the architecture that was the academy. Kiba Inuzuka, Chōji Akimichi and Shikamaru Nara were gossiping about the blonde.

"Did you hear the dobe just happens to be the heir to a powerful clan." said Kiba as he whispered into Chōji's ear. News had apparently spread to the children of the village as well.

"Troublesome Kiba... of course he is, if you payed attention during history class you might have heard Iruka-sensei talk about the Uzumaki clan... troublesome." muttered Shikamaru as he stared at Naruto lazily. Kiba felt obligated to hit Shikamaru for subtly calling him stupid (at least thats what he thought he heard). But he knew the Nara was right.

The only person who was silent was Sakura who was watching Naruto in curiosity and she could see signs that he was hurt, emotionally. She didn't understand why people were mean to Naruto and why they hated him. He just was. And for a brief moment she could what looked like suffering in his visage.

She would muster up the courage and talk to him during lunch but she wasn't going to ask about the ripple eyes.

By now Iruka Umino's class was here and attending the academy to be ninja's and he spotted Naruto who was wearing the same Kimono he had last week.

But he had trouble deciding what he wanted to teach, maybe a practical lesson to develop the children's taijutsu and aim for their shuriken and kunai, or a theoretical lesson to develop their intelligence and minds.

But he decided on the theoretical lesson.

After his students took their seats he wrote on the chalkboard about a particular subject.

'The Yondaime Hokage'

Many of the students groaned in annoyance, so ahd already covered this subject before the only ones who weren't groaning were Sasuke, Naruto and Sakura. Sasuke because he wanted to get good grades to impress his father, Naruto because the Yondaime was his idol, the person he looked up to most and Sakura because she was too busy paying attention to Naruto.

She was till trying to figure him out, he was just a enigma.

Ino had caught Sakura staring at something so she followed her gaze believing it to be Sasuke who Sakura had a crush on or thats what the rumours about Sakura said anyway. She broke off their friendship when Ino thought that Sakura liked Sasuke and the Yamanaka heiress believed the rumours to be true. Which caused a rift between the two girls.

But instead of Sasuke, Sakura was staring at Naruto, the dobe. She couldn't fathom why Sakura was interested in that loser of course she now knew that Naruto was a clan heir, and a powerful clan too but Naruto himself wasn't powerful so why focus her attention on him. Did Sakura like Naruto? Ino brushed off those thoughts believing them to be ludicrous.

But Sakura's actions had an affect on the blonde haired girl and like ripples the blonde boy sparked her interest although she wasn't nearly as interested as Sakura who just kept staring at the dobe.

Naruto was enthralled with every word that came out of Iruka's mouth like a song. He emulated the Yondaime on of the greatest Hokage in the villages existence, the man who defeated the kyūbi no yoko single handedly. Ofcourse he had heard stories of the Yondaime from all around the village form the many civilians but he really wanted to meet the man in person but he knew he couldn't since he was... dead.

But another thing he had noticed was the stark resemblance between him and the man. They both had spiky blonde hair and ocean blue eyes and Naruto's face was shaped like his but the boys was a little rounder. When Naruto first saw the image of the Yondaime he had brushed off the resemblance as a coincidence not believing it to be true.

But there was also another person who he wanted to learn about. The Sage of Six Paths. Nothing was known about the man, except that many considered him a legend, a myth. And that he had extraordinarily powerful eyes. Like his. Also he had ended all the wars that plagued the world at the time by himself.

But why did Naruto have his Dōjutsu. He wasn't special, he was an orphan so why did he.

All this thinking was making Naruto even more confused, just who was the Sage? Why do I ahev his eyes? Who am I? Where Naruto's questions maybe he should just ask Itachi about it later.

He remembered his 'jiji (The Sandaime Hokage) talking about how knowledge benefitted everyone. And the old man was right, he thirsted for knowledge like water in a desert.

He had so many questions.

And nobody could answer them.

He then felt something odd as if he was being watched. He turned to his right to see emerald eyes gazing into his own. It was just Sakura staring at him curiously. He just hoped that she wouldn't always stare at him unlike Hinata who just stared and pushed her index fingers together. He thought Hinata was weird.

Then the bell rang signalling to have lunch. While out on the campus Naruto found a nice shaded spot htat protected him against the rays of the sun. it was cool and quiet something which made him feel... content.

He was currently munching on some ham sandwiches when he felt something sit next to him on his left. When he craned his head he realised it was Sakura who was eating anko dumplings.

Naruto has had a crush on Sakura for a while, he will admit that she wasn't the prettiest girl in their class but he just felt like he had to like her. Like him he could feel that Sakura wanted to be acknowledged for being herself and not what others thought of her.

And he could see that Sakura was compassionate, courageous, determined like himself as well as strong willed, it's just Sakura herself had yet to see these things. And she was stubborn as well.

This is what makes Naruto admire her. And Sakura herself could see this someday.

While Naruto was thinking of the girl sitting next to him. Sakura herself was having an inner turmoil she had mustered enough courage just to sit next to him. So why wasn't she doing what she thought out she would do. She wanted to get to know Naruto Uzumaki. But yet it wasn't fear that gripped her, it was anxiety.

She didn't know much about him and here she was sitting with him and yet saying nothing.

"H-hi Naruto." stuttered Sakura. Sakura mentally hit herself for stuttering.

"Hey Sakura... watchya doin?" replied Naruto casually. Sakura looked away from Naruto, she was planning what she was going to say next.

"I-i just wanted to sit with you." answered Sakura softly. Naruto raised his eyebrows at the girl in surprise, no one ever really wanted to sit next to him. They avoided him as if he was a disease.

So the two sat in silence with Sakura planning her next question, she believed that she could get all the information she needs from the source, so oh why was she having a hard time trying to form coherent words.

By the time she was able to open her mouth again the bell signalled the students that the time for lunch was over, she had missed her opportunity even when the window was open.

But Ino knew (who had been watching them) would be great gossip and maybe tesing material.

Naruto found himself on autopilot. His was confused over why Sakura would just suddenly sit next to him.

Ever since he got his cool eyes things have just been confusing, every action just confused the blonde boy even more.

He didn't realise that he was sitting in his seat in the classroom again. None of the other classmates had arrived so Naruto took out a book from his backpack and started reading, studying the words intently.

When the other classmates came in the first thing they saw was Naruto reading a book. But what intrigued them was the book Naruto was reading. It was a book about the legend and historical theories of the Sage of Six Paths.

Many wondered why the dobe would be interested in a myth. Of course the Sage wasn't real. It was just a tale, a story.

Many chose to ignore Naruto and not bother him while he was reading.

The bell rang signalling that the day at the academy had ended. Naruto packed his stuff and ran out of the building intent on heading back to his mansion.

Sakura meanwhile headed to the library to study all she could on the Uzumaki, the ripple eyes and the Sage of Six Paths.

Itachi watched Naruto run back to his mansion, when he would arrive Itachi hoped for Naruto to gain access to that gravity attack he did a week ago. The boy was always going to be in danger so he had to equip himself with techniques to defend himself.

* * *

Naruto made it back to to his mansion waiting at his training ground.

"Hey Itachi-nii-san." greeted Naruto. Itachi smiled at his ward and waved him over.

"Now Naruto-kun, I want you to activate the gravity technique you utilised." explained Itachi. But Naruto squinted his eyes in confusion.

"How do I do that?" queried Naruto. Itachi expected this and luckily what he remembered from the attack could help.

"What was it you said that activated the technique?" continued Itachi. Naruto brought his hand up to his chin in thought. Then it came to him.

"Yeah I think I remember." Naruto faced one of the target dummies in the training ground. HE brought up his hand, aimed straight at the target.

"Shinra Tensei!" yelled Naruto and a massive invisible force rocketed from his position. It instantly destroyed the target fracturing it into multiple wooden pieces. Devastation was the correct word for the jutsu.

Itachi was amazed not only did it destroy the target it continued on destroying a small part of the wall that surrounded the mansion. It wasn't as powerful as it was last week and the wall wasn't really destroyed. Maybe the technique required more chakra the more powerful it was.

And yet Naruto had used the jutsu perfectly and it didn't require any time consuming hand seals and it was also didn't require any range. But there was something Itachi wanted to try out.

"Naruto-kun, stay where you are." commanded Itachi and Naruto nodded at the teen. Itachi was facing Naruto directly. "Are you prepared Naruto-kun?" asked Itachi and Naruto nodded.

The Uchiha heir went through some handseals preparing a jutsu.

"**K****aton: ****Gōkakyū no jutsu (Fire release: Great Fireball technique)!**" yelled Itachi as he blew out a fireball the size of a horse straight at Naruto.

"AHHH ITACHI YOU BASTARD WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" screamed Naruto as the fireball was flying towards him. "Shinra Tensei!" shouted Naruto in distress as he used the gravitational force to disperse the flames accidentally. But it also hit Itachi head on which forced the Uchiha heir to crash into the now broken wall. While the flames dispersed Naruto saw what happened to his guardian whose legs were dangling from the wall as he was laying on the back.

Itachi groaned it felt like he was hit by a rock. His whole body hurt and that technique wasn't even at full strength he slightly shuddered at what would happen if it was.

Itachi picked himself up from the ground and dusted himself off however he was very sore and tender nothing a warm bath wouldn't fix.

The sharingan wielder walked up to the young blonde and patted him on the head. But that came to a stop as he felt something hit his groin. Itachi kept his composure and reigned in his pain at the moment he looked down to see Naruto with his leg extended.

"You son of a bitch! Why'd you do that I could of been killed!" Itachi ignoring he pain and shrugging of the course language.

"I wanted to test a theory, that you could disperse jutsu with that gravitational technique and it proved I was right." said Itachi. Naruto nodded at this but saw right through the act no man in the world could not feel the pain of being hit in the family jewels at least not without protection.

"You could have told me what you planned to do from the start." mumbled Naruto with a pout and his arms were crossed.

"But where's the fun in that." quipped Itachi with a small grin. And Naruto smiled right back.

Itachi made the right decision becoming Naruto's guardian. He could tell that Naruto awaken the Rinnegan for a reason, and that one day Naruto would play a important part in the shaping of the world with or without the Rinnegan.

* * *

In it's cage the Kyūbi was resting in it's cage listening to the pitter, patter of the leaky sewers that made up Naruto's mindscape. How ti wanted to be free but still even now it was caged, again.

It then heard something that was, that was unfamiliar to the environment it sounded like tapping of a staff. It reverberated the leaky halls as it grew in sound. The Kyūbi raised it's ears at the sound and lifted it's head trying to discern where the sound was coming from.

And before his eyes he saw the silhouette of a person. The fox couldn't make out the main appearance of the man. The fox narrowed it's eyes at the silhouette and growled menacingly.

"**How did you get here?**" threatened/asked the fox.

"Do you remember me... Kurama." said the apparition. The fox widened it's eyes in Recognition until it narrowed even more.

"**How do you know that name!**" spat the fox with malicious intent.

"You truly don't remember me." said the figure, he stepped into the light revealing his presence to the massive fox. The fox was gaping he hadn't seen this person in a long time.

"**You?!**"

**Hey guys sorry for the long wait, I had writers block while also writing my other stories.**

**So this was basically what happened after the attack on Naruto from the previous chapter so let me know good, bad plz review or read any of my other stories also I will be posting a poll on when Narusaku should happen so see ya**

**juubiwriter99 is down and out**


	3. Message

The Return of the Sage.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or it's characters.**

**Message**

The Kyūbi no yoko. The greatest of all the Bijū. A demon of destruction renowned for it's power by the greatest shinobi the world had to offer more namely Hashirama Senju and his rival Madara Uchiha.

The foxes power was so great the the Shodaime Hokage made it a priority to suppress and control it's power during Madara's fight with Hashirama where it later became a prisoner to the Uzumaki and Senju clans.

Was at the moment fuming in it's cage. The fox was known to be nothing but vile hatred compressed into a physical form but it wasn't fuming with hatred but anger. Not merely a few minutes ago did an apparition appear to the beast as tall as the Hokage monument. The fox counted it's graces when the Yondaime allowed some of it's Yin chakra to remain in the seal which the Bijū was able to regenerate over time where it regained it's former size and power.

But the anger it was feeling was nothing it had felt before.

_**Flashback**_s

"_You truly don't remember me."_

_the figure stepped into the light but his face was still shadowed preventing the fox from seeing the mans features. However the Ky_ūbi _was able to see a white, high collared haori (full-length coat). A necklace laced with six red magatama. And he had the symbol of the Rinnegan along with nine red magatama structured into three rows on the back of his coat which__ the fox was able to recognise without trouble for he had seen that coat from long ago in the past. Even though his face was a silhouette the Kyūbi could see two tufts of hair that resembled horns or rabbit ears and he had a long beard to boot._

_The man was currently wielding a Shakujō, a buddhist ringed staff usually meant for prayer but could also be used as a weapon and a katana was currently strapped to his waist it's scabbard resting idly on his side. _

_However it was the mans eyes that were the most attention drawing detail on him. They were a metallic purple in colour almost like an empty void and with numerous concentric, ripple patterned rings that surrounded his pupils which were small. To the fox it seemed like it was looking into a continues ripples in a small pond. _

_The Ky__ūbi no yoko was unsure if it should feel elated or cowering in fear. For standing before the massive beast was a person who could split the world in tow if he wished. The one person the ninth tailed beast loved, respected and feared most. His creator._

"_jiji?!" spoke the fox as he stared at the man with bated breath and wide eyes. The person who the fox refered to as 'jiji' chuckled a little. It wasn't everyday that the man who was supposedly a god was called such a casual title although, the man himself much preferred the title the people of his era called him. _

_The Sage of the Six Paths. _

"_It brings me nothing but joy to know that to this day you remember me, Kurama." spoke the Sage to his imaginative creation. _

_The fox was flabbergasted, this man had been dead for thousands of years the fox was there when he died. So how was he standing here before him. The Kyūbi who was now known as Kurama could remember every second he spent with the forefather of shinobi the man that created ninjutsu and brought about a cataclysmic change to the world._

"_But how can you be here? I-we saw you die and we witnessed your scions repugnant and petty conflicts, desecrating your teachings, your legacy and your lessons. I have Witnessed it all. The cycle of war and hatred that you and your mother fought to so hard to soothe. But still just how?" questioned the monster fox who was trying to keep a calm composure in-front of the man._

"_Well, I'm not really here." stated the Sage that confused Kurama even more. "I'm merely a shadow of my original self, when I created you and the other Biū I stored some of my chakra into you so I could pass on a message that was for your own ears and your ears only." continued the Sasge with Kurama listening intently. _

"_It's about your jailor, the one your power and body are sealed into." spoke the Sage which in turn confused Kurama even more. "He is but a boy who will become... newly aware of himself, his light will shine as bright and brief as the setting sun... for already he has awakened a power that you yourself have seen, and from now he is my eye and I will see the world, it's people, it's beauty, it's innocence and it's future through him, with him and beside him." _

_Kurama snorted at that. What was the old man insinuating that this boy was his heir._

"_Just because he has your eyes, the Rinnegan, doesn't mean I like or trust him, I don't care anymore about humans and their eyes. For my trust was broken long ago when they made me their weapon, I don't care if he was your own child, I don't care for I have hated him ever since I was sealed by that wretched father of his." snarled Kurama at the Sage._

_The Shinobi no Kami frowned at what the fox said but he couldn't blame him either. But he had to get his message through._

"_My mothers arrogance and sins unleashed a malevolent creature upon this world. She was blinded by the wars in her time that she didn't possess the wisdom to foresee the consequences of her actions... I tried to rectify her follies and mistakes by defeating that beast and bringing about peace in a more pacifistic way than merely conquering all other wars that threatened the world by creating the ninshū and spreading my ideals and religion to every corner of the world where I was successful but even I was arrogant myself... I believed for a time that only I could bring about peace, although my arrogance was hidden behind a veil of love it wasn't until after I had ended the wars did I realise this myself and that brining about true peace is not something that can be done alone." confessed the Sage. "But I just want you to trust the boy, I know he will bring a change to this world and... he might even change you."_

_Kurama growled menacingly. No one could change it for the fox was hatred incarnate, he would never allow itself to be changed by a mere human no matter if the boy had the Rinnegan or not. _

"_I won't change and no human will change me." growled the fox. The Sage sighed wearily at the accumulative mass of chakra. _

"_I had hoped you to be more accepting. I sealed my chakra into you believing that you were worthy of leading your brethren the other Bijū but it seems I was wrong. Maybe I should've have sealed my chakra into Shukaku instead." the Kurama roared at the name believing that the Ichibi was nothing more than a weakling. "You are too filled with hatred to understand and accept the message I have _

_given you, the very thing I had hoped to undo in the world, until you learn to rid yourself of hatred then you won't know what true strength is." and with those last words the Sage of the Six Paths retreated back into the leaky and flooded hallways of Naruto's mindscape leaving the fox alone who was roaring and pounding itself against the bars of it's cage in anger._

_**Flachback end**_

after the Kurama had finished it's temper tantrum it thought back to the Sage's message and what it could mean. The fox wasn't stupid nor was it a mindless beast.

There was some connection between the Sage, it's host, and the fox's original form. 'it's' host just suddenly gaining the Rinnegan for no reason at all was more than just coincidence. But even if the boy had the Rinnegan, Kurama wouldn't trust him. He believed that the Uzumaki heir would just march up to it rudely and demand it's powerful chakra in exchange for allowing it to be housed in his body.

When Kurama's thoughts travelled to Naruto he didn't trust the boy nor would it. And what was even better was that the Uzumaki was still unaware of it's existence. But still, the Uchiha training the Jinchūriki. The fox hated any Uchiha no matter who they were.

He didn't like Itachi because he had the eye the Fox hated most. The Sharingan. However the fox could sense that the Uchiha had yet to give into his clans curse of hatred created by his ancestor the oldest son of the Sage.

Hatred was a powerful thing and the Uchiha thrived for hatred, it made them stronger, they thirsted for it like water. So the fox was patiently waiting for the day the Uchiha boy would fall into his clans curse.

Every Uchiha was cursed in the Bijū's mind and all have hatred within them. It was that simple.

For now the beast would bide it's time and think about the Sage's words and if there was one thing the fox was stubborn and patient.

* * *

At the Uzumaki mansion things were quite peaceful. Instead the loud blonde owner was surprisingly quiet and was currently meditating under a tree to improve his focus and concentration and patience with a hint of anger management.

Naruto was bored. He hated meditating. He had too much energy for it. And he didn't like sitting still for long. But Itachi had taught it to him so to at least know how to meditate and could possibly help him some day.

But Naruto in fact actually wanted to read up more on the Rinnegan. He wouldn't stop looking for information until he's read over every source twice. The only thing he did know what the Rinnegan did was have control over gravity and the ability to use all five nature transformations. Right now Fire nature was his best with the help of Itachi who then said that they would work on Water afterwards since Itachi had a natural affinity to Water.

After the academy Itachi had made it perfectly clear and understandable to Naruto that he musn't show his Dōjutsu to anybody. If Danzō ever got word of it, he could send his ROOT agents to kidnap Naruto where he would be turned into an emotionless drone who would only obey Danzō himself and if the Konoha elder got Naruto then Danzō could use the boy to oust Hiruzen Sarutobi and have Danzō or one of his lackeys take over as Hokage where the village would become the opposite of what the Yondaime and Shodaime envisioned it would be.

And Danzō was not someone you could trust and he was the only person Itachi openly hated. The man was a war-hawk who used under-handed tactics to gain a foothold over the other villages by using his ROOT soldiers. He openly opposed the Sandaime's policies and ideals believing that it made shinobi weak and pathetic while also declaring the image to be soft and powerless.

But enough about Danzō we go back to Naruto sitting under the sakura tree meditating when he felt a leaf land on his sun-kissed hair.

He opened his eyes and removed the leaf from his head where he looked down upon it in his hand. Itachi had told that he had poor chakra control. But it's not his fault he just had too much for someone his age.

But he briefly wondered about something regarding the Rinnegan. He was taught a chakra control exercise by Iruka by teaching him focus as well as it served as a punishment.

He tried to stick the leaf to his forehead using only his chakra without his Rinnegan active. And the result was expected since the he had trouble trying to keep the leaf on his forehead.

Next he tried it with his Rinnegan active. But the result mildly surprised him. Instead of falling off the leaf stayed connected to his forehead with little to no trouble. It stayed right in it's position. Never falling or appeared to be falling.

Thats when it struck him. He would have to learn about the Rinnegan's other abilities by himself. There wasn't an instruction manuel on how to use the Rinnegan so he had to learn by himself and through hard work, he could accomplish that.

He returned to his meditation with his Rinnegan active and the leaf sticking to his forehead.

* * *

Itachi was at the moment getting ready to meet Naruto. Itachi too had been studying on the Rinnegan, of course he had found nothing. But the Uchiha heir did have suspicions. He couldn't shake off this feeling that the Rinnegan and Sharingan were somehow related. He didn't believe what the Hyūga's said about how the Uchiha clan and the Sharingan sprouted form the Hyūga clan. That was utter bull, no doubt to elevate their status by forging false history. Itachi knew that it was false as the Uchiha's history predates that of the Hyūga clan and it's more likely that the Hyūga clan and Byakugan sprouted from the Uchiha clan. (Thats made up by the way no one knows where the Byakugan come from it's just there).

Itachi had looked through all he information the Uchiha clan had on the Rinnegan and he found zip for once in his life Itachi was frustrated. He couldn't ask his father otherwise he would get suspicious. If he went to the ANBU commander he could report to Danzō. Itachi was running out of options. But then the thought came to him.

The Naka Shrine.

A secret meeting place for the Uchiha that no one outside the clan knew of. Not even the Hokage was aware of the shrine's existence.

Within the Shrine lies a mysterious stone tablet that only someone with a Dōjutsu can decipher. Written on the tablet is the clans secrets and among other things. Itachi had read the tablet and discovered the power of a forbidden dōjutsu that only two others within the Uchiha's history have awakened.

Maybe Naruto could read what the Uchiha can't. After the academy today he would take Naruto to the Naka Shrine in secret to see if it held the secrets of the Rinnegan along with anything the tablet could tell the person.

It was the last source of information. Only a Dōjutsu wielder can read it. More specifically only someone with the Sharingan can read it. And even then it revealed very little of what was transcribed on it.

It was settled the Naka Shrine secrets would be known today.

Itachi was brought out of his thoughts by a knock on his door which barricaded his room from the rest of his house.

"Itachi, breakfast is ready, you're going to need it so you have enough energy for your mission today." spoke the voice of Mikoto Uchiha, Itachi's mother. Itach smiled a genuine smile. He loved how his mother went out of her way to make sure he was okay.

"Thank you, mother." whispered Itachi which Mikoto heard where she then left.

Itachi fully equipped in in ANBU gear and weasel mask tilted on the side of his head walked into the dining room of his home. He beheld his mother, father and his younger brother Sasuke sitting by the table eating bacon and eggs.

When Sasuke saw his older brother he got off his seat and ran up to him where he hugged his fellow family member.

"Hey Itachi-nii-san... are you going on a mission today." asked Sasuke with glee. Itachi smiled at his brother and he was right, in a way.

"Yes I am going on a mission today ANBU business so it's classified." spoke Itachi softly.

"Ohh and can you help me with my shuriken practice today?" asked Sasuke happily.

"Sorry Sasuke, my mission will take up most of my time today and I will be unable to practice with you." lied Itachi through his teeth as he was going to take Naruto to the Naka Shrine.

"You're a big fat liar you know that." mumbled Sasuke with a pout as he crossed his arms. Itachi waved his younger brother over as he sat down by the dinner table. Seeing this Sasuke joyfully ran to Itachi where he was met with Itachi's fingers poking him in the head.

"Forgive me Sasuke... Again, next time." apologised Itachi as he cut up a piece of bacon and started chewing.

"So what will you be doing at the academy today Sasuke?" asked Itachi trying to start up a conversation. Fugaku also payed attention to what Sasuke had to say, for he was generally interested if Sasuke would become anything like his brother.

"Well we're gonna learn about the concept of chakra along with shuriken training, minor chakra control exercises and taijutsu spars... then we move on to some ninjutsu training." answered Sasuke trying to sound intelligent so to impress his father.

"Study and practice hard if you want to be good as your brother one day." spoke Fugaki with slight authority. Sasuke grew depressed a little at his fathers words, he was always being compared ti Itachi in everything. To him it was always 'Itachi this' 'Itachi that' 'Itachi's proving worthy of the clan'. He just wanted his father to look at him for him but to Sasuke the only way he thought that would happen if he was trying to be Itachi himself.

Itachi hid a well placed frown at what his father said. But growing up and pampering the next clan head was important but also spending time with his youngest son was also important.

A few minutes had passed and the family ate silently together and Mikoto was busy washing the dishes after all the breakfast was eaten.

Itachi was about ready to leave for Naruto's mansion when he noticed his brother standing next to him with a sullen look on his face.

"What's with the face?" queried Itachi. Sasuke looked up at his older brother.

"Tou-san's always comparing me to you." stated Sasuke moodily.

"Who cares what he thinks." replied Itachi.

"I'm different from you... I just want him to acknowledge me as me and not you." bit back Sasuke.

"The only person's approval you need, is your own... yes being acknowledged is good and it can make you happy but theres a prerequisite, you need to first acknowledge yourself before others acknowledge you." spoke Itachi with wisdom.

Sasuke stared up at his older brother with awe that only a few had for their hero's.

"But before people acknowledge you." continued Itachi capturing Sasuke's attention. "You need friends."

"Tou-san says I shouldn't need friends." pouted Sasuke.

"Well he's wrong. Who else are you going to trust and who else will support you aside from family." said Itachi with a small smile. He was hoping for Naruto and Sasuke to be friends since thats what both their mothers wanted.

"Just be yourself and not an emo and you'll have friends in no time." continued Itachi causing a shout form Sasuke claiming he isn't emo.

Soon both brothers bid farewell to each other and parted, going their own ways. For Sasuke it was the academy and for Itachi, Naruto's mansion.

* * *

When Itachi had arrived he found the young Uzumaki heir getting everything ready for the academy that day.

"Hey Itachi-nii-san, I discovered something cool about the Rinnegan." said Naruto as he saw his guardian walk towards him.

"And what would that be?" questioned Itachi as he placed a hand on his hip.

"That my Rinnegan gives me perfect control of my chakra." stated Naruto. Itachi raised his eyebrow in curiosity. At least he wouldn;t have to teach Naruto any chakra control exercises.

"Ok then... now com one, you don't want to be late for the academy." spoke Itachi as he placed his mask on and left in a shunshin. And Naruto ran out of his mansion and onto the streets of Konoha excited for the new day.

* * *

Naruto as always made his way through Konoha and like before he could hear the people's harsh comments about him. They hurt of course, but he steeled himself and continued running towards the academy.

Itachi was trailing behind Naruto through the rooftops making sure to keep out of sight and yet watch Naruto at the same time. Itachi was aware that Naruto could make friends easily and urging Sasuke to make friends from Itachi also helped in the process. Maybe Sasuke and Naruto won't be lonely.

Every student within Iruka's class was filing into the room in a orderly fashion. Most of the students took their normal spots in the class while Naruto took a seat next to the window where he could view the village and probably plan out his next prank.

Sasuke took the seat next to Naruto. Where the blonde merely glanced at him before looking out of the window again.

Sakura took a seat in the far back where she would have a good view of Naruto. Her investigation into the ripple eyes she had witnessed weeks ago was not going well. She hadn't found any evidence on the ripple eyes even existing. It's because she was looking in the non-fiction section of the library when the fictional side had anything on the Rinnegan. Because many people believed that the Sage of Six Paths was merely a myth, they regarded the Rinnegan as a myth also.

Naruto placed his bag onto his desk and took out a book from his clans library on Fūinjutsu, more specifically his clans Fūinjutsu. And that was another thing that bugged Naruto. He read that the Uzumaki were blood relatives of the Senju. So would he inherit everything that was the Senju's since Tsunade was the last of the clan. It saddened him slightly that his distant cousins were now on the brink of extinction.

The Senju clan took a heavy toll in numbers during the First Shinobi world war. Where only a few members remained afterwards, including Tsunade and her brother.

He would talk to the old man (The Hokage) to see if he could inherit the Senju's possessions's because of his blood rights.

Sasuke out of the corners of his eyes saw what Naruto was reading. Normally he wouldn't be interested in what the dobe was reading, since he originally thought it would be a waste of time. But Sasuke caught a glimpse of what Naruto was reading from one of the pages and it looked excessively difficult. Sasuke didn't the heads or tails of the seals Naruto was looking at, however the Uzumaki understood them like fish in water or a bird in the air, thanks to his Uzumaki lineage.

"Hey." whispered a voice next to Naruto. The blonde turned his head to see Sasuke whispering to him. 'What are you reading?" asked Sasuke simply. Naruto raised his eyebrow a little, but since it was a harmless question and the fact that Naruto doubted that Sasuke could understand a third of the book.

"Uzumaki Fūinjutsu." answered Naruto where he turned his attention back to the book. Sasuke raised his eyebrow in realisation, Itachi did mention sometime that the Uzumaki were sealing masters without equal. Curiosity getting the better of him Sasuke just to inspect the book over Naruto's shoulder, trying to catch a glimpse of a simple seal.

Naruto caught Sasuke peeking over his shoulder like a hawk. The Uzumaki was a little peeved at the Uchiha's blatant rudeness. If he wanted to read the book he could have just asked. Naruto sighed and put the book away when his academy teacher Iruka walked through the door carrying his necessary teaching tools and books.

Sasuke stopped looking over Naruto's shoulder and returned to his original position. Sasuke noted that Naruto wasn't as bad as he thought. Sakura however kept her eyes trained in the blonde enigma.

Far from the academy room directly opposite them was a shadow with coal black eyes and dark hair wearing a weasel mask. Behind his mask was a small smile at the start of Naruto and Sasuke's friendship, even if both of them couldn't see it.

"Alright class, today we're going to talk about the concept and theories of chakra." spoke Iruka as his eyes glazed across the room from student to student. His landed on the sun-kissed mop of golden hair that belonged to Naruto Uzumaki. Iruka was at first a bit awkward around the boy, considering that the demon fox housed in his body killed his parents. "Take out your textbooks and turn to page thirty seven." commanded the academy teacher with every student scrambling about with their bags to retrieve the certain book. The only students who didn't have the book was Shikamaru, Chōji and Kiba. Surprisingly Naruto brought the book with him more often. Some scolding from Itachi was needed and a kick up the ass known as discipline proved to be quite helpful.

"Now can any one tell me what chakra is?" asked Iruka with a smile already knowing the naswer before hand. But something was very wrong, well nor for Iruka or his class but wrong for Naruto.

The blonde Rinnegan wielder started feeling strange sensations etching itself into his mind. It wasn't painful nor was it pleasurable, it was discomforting and annoying. He started seeing things that he had never seen before. Images from a different perspective, through another's eyes. Thoughts that weren't his own yet felt like he had relived them before. The images bored their way into his brain and it felt like memories, someone else's memories, he looked through another's eyes and saw what appeared to be people listening to him explain something to them. It felt like he knew the answer to Iruka's question and more.

Instinctively the Uzumaki heir raised his hand to answer the question, his body was on autopilot when the movement occurred. Everything felt surreal to him.

When Iruka saw Naruto raise his hand he frowned believing that Naruto was going to use the opportunity to showoff again for attention. Many who saw Naruto's hand go up also had similar thoughts believing that the boy was just going to be a showoff.

"Yes Naruto, can you answer the question." stated Iruka who still had his frown.

"Chakra is a form of life energy all living things in this world naturally produce. Many have believed that chakra is a power that has existed in this world as long as we have known it." spoke Naruto who wasn't even controlling what he was saying. "Chakra is the resulting form of two other energies mixed together, the physical and spiritual, or simply Yin and Yang. The physical energy is collected when the body's cells and can be increased through training and exercise while the spiritual energy is derived from the mind's consciousness and can be increased through studying and meditation. Having these two energies become more powerful will in turn increase the reserve and power of one's chakra therefore allowing more powerful jutsu and the amount of times one can perform the jutsu through repeated use and practice."

Now everyone. And I mean everyone was flabbergasted by what Naruto said. He not only answered Iruka's question but even went as far to continue onwards on the purposes of chakra and it felt like Naruto read it straight from a source of material.

Itachi himself was surprised by Naruto's thorough explanation and yet applauded him for keeping it simple.

Getting over the stupor Iruka calmed himself down and quickly performed a genjutsu release hoping to have the underachieving blonde back.

The class continued. But not before Iruka gave Naruto a look of wonder and amazement.

* * *

Later during the day everyone went outside to practice their shuriken aim.

Each student lined up in a row of three before three archery targets. You had thirty shuriken and you were to hit the target as many times as you can by firing with three controlled bursts.

Iruka checked off the names one by one as each student had their turn of throwing the shuriken.

He counted the results from each toss on his clipboard.

Shino got seven out of ten from the first wave, eight out f ten from the second wave and seven out of ten on the third.

Shikamaru was too lazy to do it so he gave up on it. Causing Iruka to slam his clipboard on the back of Shikamaru's head.

Chōji was a similar case where he instead gorged himself on his potato chips, clearly lacking any motivation. Iruka instead pinched his nose in frustration at the lazy clan heirs.

Kiba hot six out of ten on the first wave, five out of ten on the second and seven out of ten on the third.

Ino got four out of ten on the first wave, three out of ten on the second and four out of ten on the third.

Sasuke got nine out of ten on the first wave, ten out of ten on the second and nine out of ten on the third. It caused his fangirls to cry out in joy and the Uchiha's prodigious talents. Sakura wasn't impressed since her eyes were trained on Naruto who was to her left.

Hinata got five out of ten on the first wave, seven out of ten on the second and four out of ten on the third. She pressed her index fingers together hopig that her crush Naruto was watching. Where she looked behind her and saw that Naruto was instead staring at a butterfly that landed on his finger which caused the Hyūga heiress to deflate somewhat.

Sakura was called up and she got three out of ten on the first wave, five out of ten on the second and five on the third.

And finally was Naruto who slowly walked up to the archery targets and readied his shuriken. However the same thing happened again like in the classroom. The sensation was back which caused him to view flashes and experiences again. Only this time instead of people listening to him he was met with flashes of battle and conflict where he saw many people cut down from his point of view.

Naruto readied his arms and flung the shuriken at the posts with extreme precision. To many Naruto merely moved his arms in such a way that they were unable to keep up, even Iruka had trouble detecting Naruto's arm movements.

And in less than five seconds Naruto had thrown thirty shuriken and each one had hit it's mark without showing an signs of fault.

Iruka was slack-jawed and everyone was too. Just how did the dobe, the deadlast get a higher mark than Sasuke the top student.

Naruto himself was surprised as suspected as usual he would merely miss the targets as he and Itachi had to yet go over it since they were focused on discovering the Rinnegan's powers and to condition Naruto's physical capabilities and taijutsu.

Itachi himself was surprised although he merely surmised that Naruto had been practicing without his supervision.

Again everyone got over there stupor and Naruto merely stared at the archery targets. What happened to him it's as if those memories weren't his own, he never had them before, so how was that possible.

* * *

The class later gathered around Iruka as they started their next exercise. Chakra control. Naruto shuddered on the inside. Chakra control was his worst subject aside from the basic clone jutsu. Then a sudden idea and realisation. He would use the Rinnegan to improve his control and pass the exercise.

Iruka handed every student and leaf and were told to use their chakra to keep the leaf on the forehead.

"Shouldn't be too hard considering your large forehead, bill-board brow." taunted Ino to Sakura where tickmark pulsed on Sakura brow at Ino's jab. For that moment the pink haired girl had no good comeback and would later plan her revenge on the platinum blonde.

Everyone sat down cross legged on the floor trying to keep a leaf to their forehead.

Only Shikamaru and Chōji were the only ones not trying, since they were too lazy. Iruka decided not to reprimand them and just kept inspecting his students chakra control.

Naruto was having trouble just to keep the leaf on his forehead. He would be sneaky and just use the Rinnegan to help his chakra control. He sent chakra into his eyes where the concentric rings and the metallic purple appeared.

Itachi sensing Naruto had activated his Rinnegan had to act fast before anybody discovered Naruto's Dōjutsu.

'the fool, if the villagers found out he had the Rinnegan there would be an uproar and would most likely kill him for fear of his new ability.' thought Itachi hastily as he placed a genjutsu over Naruto's eyes making them appear like his natural blue.

At that moment Iruka walked by and saw Naruto deep in thought but with his eyes open perfectly keeping the leaf on his forehead. Iruka was amazed and impressed by Naruto's abilities today. Was his student pretending to be an idiot? Over the past weeks Naruto had changed and for the better I might add which made the academy teacher have an ego boost bringing about preferable results now if only he got Shikamaru, Chōji and Kiba to work harder as well.

The exercise had ended and they were now moving on to taijutsu spars. Itachi would 'discipline' Naruto later about blatantly using the Rinnegan in public and he would have to get the lesson across in a way Naruto would understand without revealing that he's the Kyūbi-Jinchūriki.

* * *

The taijutsu spars were in full swing and the results were mildly expected many of the students did poorly while some were too lazy other did alright for academy students. Now it was Naruto's turn who was paired up with Sasuke. Many of the fan-girls cheered for Sasuke. While Hinata and Sakur awere silently worried about Naruto.

"Alright, you know the rules, this is a spar, this is not a competition to prove who's better nor is it a show of skill." spoke Iruka as Naruto and Sasuke were standing opposite each other. "Make the seal of concentration."

Both Naruto and Sasuke made the seal. And Iruka started the match. But of course something was wrong. Like with the shuriken practice Naruto was starting to see strange things, flashes of days and years compressed into mere seconds.

Experience being downloaded into core. It felt surreal and yet bizarre.

When the flashes were over Naruto saw Sasuke charging at him ready to hit him in the face with his fist. But as if his body was obeying someone else's. Naruto slapped the fist away and then grasped Sasuke's arm. And punched him in the chest where he threw him over his shoulder causing Sasuke to tumble a little.

Many of the fangirls who witnessed this shouted out that Naruto was cheating and Iruka payed them no mind as he watched the fight and saw no signs of cheating.

Sasuke was astonished. No one had ever been able to do that to him before. The punch did hurt but since it was a spar it was to be expected.

Naruto was also astonished. How did he do that just now.

Sasuke charged at Naruto again where he prepared another punch. However Naruto blocked his punch effortlessly and performed a palm strike on Sasuke's throat where the Uchiha was now wheezing and his throat burned throat from the hit. And he couldn't counter the leg sweep that swept him off his feet. When he looked through his teary his eyes, he saw Naruto with his hand planted on his chest and his fist ready to strike. Sasuke hadn't felt so outclassed before in his life. Just how did the dobe just suddenly get better than him.

Many of the others were also wondering that. Of course the loyal fangirls tried to defend Sasuke saying that Naruto cheated. By Sasuke shouted at them saying that he lost fair and square and that Naruto was just better than him. Many of the young girls pouted at this and tried to say something else if it wasn't for a stern look by Sasuke.

After that the academy finished it's day and the students went their own way.

* * *

Sakura was walking back to her home. The girls mind was a maelstrom. Just how did Naruto do and know all those things? It's as if someone or something implanted their memories into him.

Maybe she could ask her parents on what they knew on the Rippled eyes. Parents were always the first choice when it came to questions.

And when she arrived home. She found her parents squabbling as usual. And when time passed when their argument was over it was about dinner and Sakura had the perfect opportunity.

"Hey Tou-san, Kaa-chan." spoke Sakura gaining Mebuki and Kizashi's attention. "Have you ever heard of a third Dōjutsu? One with a ripple pattern?"

Kizashi and Mebuki were pleasantly surprised by that. It wasn't the type of question someone like Sakura would ask unless she was extremely curious.

Kizashi rubbed his chin in thought as he tried to recall any information. 'a third dōjutsu, I think I remember someone mentioning it a long time ago now what was it called.'

Mebuki bit her nail in thought. Like Kizashi she was also trying to recall some information on the third eye. 'an eye with a ripple pattern, I swear I have heard of something like that somewhere but a ripple pattern.'

Realisation hit them both as they remembered that specific eye.

"The Rinnegan." spoke both of them at the same time. Sakura raised her eyebrows at what her parents said.

"Yeah it is the Rinnegan, Sakura, but it's nothing more than a myth, a fairy tail that parents tell their children. There are only two Dōjutsu not three." spoke Mebuki as she denied the existence of the most powerful eye.

"I think I remember my father telling me about the Rinnegan in some bed time story when I was a boy." said Kizashi. "You should think nothing of it sweetheart, it's a myth and will always be a myth. Now it's getting late you should go to bed."

Sakura nodded a little downcast and in denial.

'I know what I saw, that was definitely the Rinnegan, it matched their description, but they said the Rinnegan was a myth and every other story about the eye have said the same thing, so how does Naruto have it?' thought Sakura as she pondered over her thoughts on the attack a few weeks ago.

She later went to bed where she succumbed to sleep dreaming about the eyes a certain blonde had.

* * *

Somewhere else two people were practicing their taijutsu with a friendly spar. These people were Itachi and Naruto.

When the two arrived at the mansion Itachi was fuelled with rage that Naruto was so reckless and gave him a massive scolding on to be more careful around others with the Rinnegan.

But Itachi also wondered how Naruto was able to do the things he did today. But he stored that in the back of his mind.

"Naruto..." spoke Itachi ensnaring Naruto's attention. "There is a place I want to take you."

"Really, where is it." queried Naruto.

"It's a secret meting place of the Uchiha clan... one that holds secrets only our eyes can see." continued Itachi. "We'll leave in five minutes."

Dusk had crept over the village hidden in the leaves. The only light that pierced the darkness was the moon radiating over the world in a warm embrace. The wind blew the tree leaves softly as if they were feathers and the leaves danced in the wind with such elegance that they made swans jealous.

The silence of the night was heard throughout the village. No sound was heard nor will anything break the silence.

Itachi Uchiha was currently running along the roofs of the village. His steps made no sound like a cat hunting a mouse.

Upon the Uchiha heir's back was the Uzumaki heir Naruto. The two had swept across the village through the streets from the Uzumaki's mansion in the night so to reduce the chances of being seen. Their goal and destination was at a secret location known only to the Uchiha clan. A shrine built by the Uchiha for the Uchiha.

The Naka Shrine.

Not much was known about the shrine but it was built by the Uchiha's earliest ancestor's in the village. However within the shrine itself was a relic that only few can read. Written by an entity long forgotten, the relic had secrets and obscure texts that only Dōjutsu users could read. And even then, their eyes could only reveal so much.

The two conspirators arrived at their destination and walked into the sacred place without qualm.

They walked into the main hall where they approached the seventh tatami mat on the far right. Where Itachi chanted a password allowing access into the the rest of the shrine.

As Naruto and Itachi walked down the stairs leading to the relic. Naruto could feel unease in the air around him. The place was creepy in his opinion.

And there standing before Naruto and Itachi. Was a tablet with an unknown dialect transcribed on the artefact.

"Ok Naruto-kun I need you to activate your Rinnegan and see if you can read what is on that tablet." ordered Itachi who had yet to take his eyes of the relic.

The blonde nodded at what his older brother figure said and activated the most exalted Dōjutsu the world had ever known. The concentric rings sprouted from the pupil and the metallic purple washed away the blue and white.

The gibberish on the tablet was being traded in for words. And Naruto could understand every word as if he was reading a book.

The contents on the tablet felt like they were directly out of a book.

"Can you read it Naruto-kun?" questioned Itachi.

"Every word." stated Naruto as his eyes flickered from each line to another.

'In a era of endless wars, there was a tree, known as the Shinju (god tree) it was the progenitor of all life and power in the world, the tree was worshipped as a god for the mighty it had over life itself, the tree itself was a sapient being and it watched all the wars transpiring around it, however the tree had little quarrel over the wars and did not involve itself. One day the Shinju bore a fruit that only appeared once every millenium.' recited Naruto as he red over each word with his Rinnegan.

'This fruit like the deity tree was worshipped as a demi-god and held the tree's power within itself therefore it was forbidden to devour the fruit of the sacred tree. However one person decided to dismiss the forbidden law and ate the fruit of the tree. A Princess known as Kaguya Ōtsutsuki. She believed that by attaining powers far above the realm of godhood would end all wars that were plaguing her era.' continued Naruto, he thought this Kaguya Ōtsutsuki was extremely arrogant for doing such a thing.

'With the power, far above a gods, Kaguya ended any and all wars and quickly crushed any that seemed to be sprouting. This power would later become known as chakra.' Naruto gasped. The power every being had originated from her, well it was more to say that it was wielded first by her. 'Kaguya would later fall pregnant and she gave birth to a child, a boy born with the same powers as her and more. And she named him Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki. I was that child. I am Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki.' so many emotions were going through Naruto. First of all the writer of the tablet was the princess's son. How old is the Uchiha clan? If they had 'this' (tablet) locked in their basement.

'However since the Shinju had it's own consciousness and enraged that the arrogant princess ate it's seed, underwent a metamorphosis. It's appearance and power mirrored it's rage over the theft of it's might and became that which many would christen it as the 'jūbi (ten tails)' with it's new form the Jūbi was determined to reclaim it's lost strength which was taken from it, the Jūbi itself also went by many names 'Ame no Hitotsu no kami' (One-eyed god), Datara and Deidarabotchi were among the few.' Naruto was scared of this beast and it basically was a giant pissed off tree. He wondered if the Jūbi and any connection to the kyūbi and the other Bijū.

'The Jūbi rampaged across the land it created countries, swallowed oceans with it's maw, split the land and earth with it's clap, upon it's back carried mountains, it's breath splintered tore through armies and plagued the air with fear and severed the sky with it's roar and it's footsteps created earthquakes, tsunami's and hurricanes on a scale not thought possible, the world heaved with it's torment, it's kingdoms quaked beneath it's rage, it's hatred seeped into the hearts of all living things and everything burned beneath the shadow of it's tails and it's chakra alone immersed the world in despair and brought destruction to the upon anything that existed.' ok next time Naruto would be more conscious about how he treated trees in the future if this single tree was able to do everything written on the tablet.

'Seeing the the imminent reduction of existence itself, I stood before the beast, the first person born with the Shinju's power. The gifts my mother and the tree would ensure the worlds survival, so I fought the beast in single combat with the power of my chakra and the mastery of my eyes, the Rinnegan, after an arduous and vigorous battle that literally tore the earth apart beneath our power, did I strike down the beast. However I couldn't kill it, the Shinju is connected to nature as is nature connected to it, therefore it was immortal. I instead sealed the beast within my body becoming a human sacrifice to prevent the world from being turned into nothing. And my already cataclysmic powers soared to new heights under the influence of the Jūbi.' Now Naruto didn't have anything to fear.

'Because I was born with chakra flowing through my body was I able to understand chakra and unravel it's mysteries. I an effort to bring peace to this world, in a way my mother did not. I created a religion and ideals that people could aspire to and believe in. I brought knowledge and understanding to the people of my era where they called my religion the Ninshū. My great virtue in defeating the Jūbi and bringing about peace in a way that no wars were required to end it and with my power and the power of Datara did the peoples of my age worship me as a god. And they called me the Kono yo no Kyūseishu (saviour of this world). Although they more commonly called me the Sage of the Six Paths. Which in my opinion had a better ring to it.' Naruto chuckled a little and he could feel nothing but gratefulness to the Sage, because it was because of him that everywhere Naruto looked was existing because of Hagoromo.

'But Datara's reign of terror would rise again someday. I knew that even with my power that I was still human, mortal, that I could die like any other human. Upon my death, Deidarabotchi would be released and no one in my time or this world could stop it. So I performed three actions to ensure that it's revival would not be brought about. And those actions would forever change the fate of our world. Near my end of days I took the Jūbi's chakra and split into into nine constructs each with their own identity, characteristics and name. I dubbed these constructs the Bijū for each had a different number of tails. The second action I took was more difficult, in my life I fell in love for someone who didn't see me for my power but as my own person and she sired me two sons who I loved greatly, I gathered my sons and asked them a question, I asked on which way would true peace be brought about, my older son who was born with my 'eyes', spiritual power and and chakra answered that power was the only way to ensure peace, but his peace was not the peace I had envisioned for he was talking about peace between nations and from war, while my younger son who was born with my 'body' physical energy and life force spoke about how love was the true way, seeing as how my younger sons ideals and beliefs matched my own and knowing the disappointment it would bring to my oldest, I chose my younger son as my successor and his sons and daughters would follow his ideals, despite the protest from my oldest.' Naruto was right the Jūbi was connected to the other Bijū and he couldn't fault the Sage for choosing since he would have chosen the younger son also.

'But the third action I took, was the largest factor. Upon my deathbed I received a vision. A vision of the future. Where I saw someone that would bring about a change to the world, this person would be guided by younger sons ideals and a descendent of my oldest who had broken away from his curse. He would bring about the things I nor my mother were able to do, a balance to all things. I told my creations the Bijū that they would also assist this person in some way and even with all the precautions in place, that they would return to their original form yet not as they originally were and that this person would lead them on the right path and show them what true power is. That person is you Naruto.' Naruto had to hold back the gasp, somehow the Sage of the Six Paths new about him.

'I saw you, I saw you, your life, I saw it all. That even though you possess the Rinnegan, it is merely a tool to help you achieve what myself, my mother and my youngest son, your ancestor all failed to do... I will not explain what you shall do, but I will guide you in the best way I can. For you have something that I never had. You will experience hardships, you will know anger, sorrow, fear and despair and above all you will feel hatred. But I know you will overcome those.' Naruto could feel tears gathering in his eyes and his lip quivered a little.

'Because I believe in you.'

And the wall which was Naruto's tears broke, they were silent tears there were no sobs, no shriekds of sadness. These were tears of happiness and love. Someone believed in him. He acknowledged him. Happiness isn't the correct word to describe what he was feeling.

He felt a hand on his left shoulder and looked towards Itachi who was smiling softly at him. Naruto brushed his tears away and smiled his foxy grin. He turned his eyes back to the tablet

It then moved on to the secrets of the Uchiha clan. It didn't bother him since he wasn't part of the clan. But it also had the knowledge of the Rinnegan and it's abilities. He was about to say something to Itachi when the Uchiha said something else.

"Don't tell me anything." spoke Itachi from beside Naruto. The Rinnegan wielder turned to Itachi. "Whatever was written on this tablet was for your eyes and your eyes only." continued Itachi. He patted Naruto on the head.

"This tablet has knowledge on the Rinnegan from powers to abilities. So it would be good to write it down." squeaked Naruto as he finished drying his eyes. Itachi nodded and took out a blank sheet of paper and some charcoal ANBU would use to plan out attacks on other shinobi. Naruto showed him where to sketch the paper and charcoal where the Rinnegan's abilities were recorded. And with that. Both parties left the Naka shrine with Naruto having a small smile all on the way back to his mansion.

Naruto said goodbye to his older brother figure and walked through his gates. But he stopped in his tracks when he felt something on his shoulder which almost felt like a hand gently touching him and reassuring him in a way that it didn't require words.

He smiled again knowing he would never be alone again.

**hey guys I'm extremely sorry for the overly long wait but very bad writers block and my other fic Madara's Student distracted me. but i hope you enjoyed the chapter, good, bad plz review**


End file.
